1. Someone might be found murdered. He might be lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to own. And no one knows who killed him.
2. Your elders and judges should go to where he was found. And they should measure how far it is to the nearby cities.
3. The elders of the city nearest the body are responsible. They must take a young cow that has never worked or worn a yoke.
4. And they must lead her down to a valley. It must never have been plowed or planted. It must have a stream flowing through it. There they must break the young cow’s neck.
5. The priests should come forward. They are the sons of Levi. They have been chosen by the Lord your God. They are to serve and give blessings in the Lord’s name. And they are to decide cases of quarreling and attacks.
6. Then all the elders of the city nearest the murdered man should wash their hands. They should do it over the young cow whose neck was broken in the valley.
7. They should declare: “We did not kill this man. And we did not see it happen.
8. Lord, remove this sin of your people Israel. You have saved them. Don’t blame your people, the Israelites, for this innocent man’s murder.” And so the murder will be paid for.
9. Then you will have removed from yourselves the guilt of murdering an innocent person. You will be doing what the Lord says is right.
10. You will go to war against your enemies. The Lord will help you defeat them. You will take them captive.